The best things I read, watched, and used in May 2025.
Reading
50 Years of Travel Tips by Kevin Kelly
Kevin Kelly is often described (and rightly so) as the real “most interesting man in the world.” His topics and insight are always original, and he provides insight that is clearly the result of doing interesting things (not just thinking about them). Most articles or posts that mention “travel tips” are usually 95% fluff with a few interesting ideas squeezed in, but Kelly’s tips are chock full of wisdom. Here’s a few I’m looking forward to putting into practice:
- The rate you go is not determined by how fast you walk, bike or drive, but by how long your breaks are. Slow down. Take lots of breaks. The most memorable moments—conversations with amazing strangers, an invite inside, a hidden artwork—will usually happen when you are not moving.
- People in other places are not saints. You might get cheated, swindled, or taken advantage of. Paradoxically, the best way to avoid that is to give strangers your trust and treat them well. Being good to them brings out their good. If you are on your best behavior, they will be on their best behavior. And vice versa. To stay safe, smile. Be humble and minimize your ego
- Being beautiful, or well crafted, or cheap is not enough for a souvenir. It should have some meaning from the trip. A good question you may want to ask yourself when buying a souvenir is where will this live when I get home?
Good Movie: Interstellar by Shea Serrano
Shea Serrano is one of the best writers alive. He has the rare gift of being both singularly insightful AND absolutely hilarious. Aside from the fact that we like the same movies and shows, Shea’s writing opens up aspects of those shows/movies that I’d never even considered. I was ecstatic to see he was picking up one of my favorite movies: Interstellar. In particular, I’m so glad he included the anecdote about the director, Nolan, providing the composer, Hans Zimmer, with a such simple direction for creating the iconic theme of Interstellar: a short story about a father leaving his son behind as he leaves for work, as the sole inspiration for the score. To me, that’s the core of the movie. Such a beautiful and complex plot woven around such a simple story of love. Shea captures it perfectly.
Wizard and Glass: The Dark Tower Book IV
I’m on my second read of The Dark Tower series, and I was pleasantly shocked at how little I remembered from my first read-through of this entry. I was extremely impressed how well King has woven the backstory for Roland and his friends. It’s a perfect example of how King is so good at writing about friendships. I was amazed how he is able to tell so much about Roland’s past while still keeping so many questions unanswered (what happens to Alain and Cuthbert???) Looking forward to starting Wolves of the Calla, which is one of my favorites.
Watching
Andor
The best lead-in to a movie (Rogue One) that is itself the best lead-in to a movie (A New Hope). Season 2 was a perfect end to a perfect series that really elevates the Star Wars universe and opens the door for new storytelling. I often joke with my wife that they managed to fit five seasons worth of story into only two seasons. The pacing was perfect in its ability to mix action, espionage, drama and humor. The characters were not only likeable, but understandable , and each character’s arc had it’s own inevitable end. I’m sad that it’s over, but I’m so glad it ended the way it did. I highly recommend watching Rogue One immediately after finishing the series finale – it’s amazing how well it meshes the two stories together. Looking forward to Tony Gilroy starting the Jyn Erso backstory series.
A Gentleman in Moscow
I was very excited for this adaptation of one of my favorite books. Honestly, the first few episodes were hard to get through. The slight changes from the book (which is absolutely perfect) were a bit too much, and Anna Urbanova just wasn’t quite how she felt in the books. And yet, the second half of the show completely made up for those shortcomings. As a book that beautifully captures the spirit of love, family, friendship, and happiness, the show finally caught up with its source material, and I finally had the same emotional connection that I do with the book. Bravo to Ewan McGregor and team for bringing this story to life. Count Rostov would be proud.
Our Girl
Google TV has been recommending this show to me for a while, and I finally started watching. I initially put it on in the background while I did some light work, but I had to shut my laptop as I found myself completely sucked in. The story follows Molly Dawes (played by Lacey Turner), a young working-class British girl with an overwhelmingly chaotic home life. After realizing that her life is going nowhere and she’s primed to repeat the lives of those around her, she joins the Army on a whim and heads off to training. Turner’s acting is so understated, and she lends a realistic believability to a girl in Dawes’s circumstances. Even the cinematography captures that understated realism; it reminds of the unadorned shots that lend realism to movies like “Once” or “28 Days Later” (maybe it’s a British thing?) If you’re a Ted Lasso fan, Our Girl is akin to if Jamie Tartt was the main character of the show. You find yourself proud of and rooting for Molly as she blindly and bravely joins up and heads off to war.
Masters of the Air
An unbelieveable history of the bravery and comradery of American pilots during World War 2, but for the show, there was just something missing. It somehow wasn’t able to capture the magic of it’s sibling series: Band of Brothers and The Pacific. The beauty of Band of Brothers’s story telling was truly the group of individuals and what they did together and for each other. For the Pacific, it was being alongside these men as they waded into the unknown. Before the Pacific theater of WW2, warfare had generally been fought between forces that operated in equal, opposing manners. The horror and novelty of fighting in the Pacific shows itself in how each man changes over the course of the campaign. It reminds me of how Marlow changes as he descends into the jungles in The Heart of Darkness. Although the storytelling and characters never hit their mark for me, that didn’t detract from the great flying scenes and the history of what these brave men did.
Civil War
Written by one of my favorite screenwriters (Alex Garland, of 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Ex Machina), Civil War follows group of journalists racing to Washington D.C. on the heels of a rebel faction in the midst of a dystopian civil war. It was very good, and you could definitely feel Garland’s mark on it. I appreciated the clipped set pieces that give just enough backstory to understand the characters, while staying in the dark shadows of the ambiguous backstory (is there a “good” side to the warring factions?) Some of the character development (particularly Jessie) felt a little rushed/underdeveloped, but it didn’t detract from the overall story.
